High school students learning from engineers

Internship program offers $10,000 scholarship

VISTA -- A construction company recently teamed up with Vista
High School to give a few students real-life engineering
experience.

Four 12th-grade students from the campus and one from San Marcos
High School will work three hours each week this semester at FCI
Constructors Inc. in San Marcos, learning how to use drafting
software and design bridges, officials said.

At the end of the four-month internship, the company plans to
award a $10,000 scholarship to the student or students who did the
best job.

The group has only worked two days so far, but Zach Weber, a
senior at Vista High, said he's already getting comfortable with
MicroStation, the complex computer program the company uses for
drafting.

Ana Cruz, another Vista student doing the internship, said she
hopes to pursue a career in engineering. Working with professional
engineers helps her stay motivated with that goal, she said.

"It helps me see where I'm trying to get to, and it keeps me
focused," she said.

Students at Vista High can learn the basics of computer-aided
drafting in several elective classes that the school offers. This
is the first time they've been able to take the skills they learned
in those classes and apply them in a real-world situation, said
Barry Hamblin, who teaches the classes.

"It's really unique," he said of the opportunity. "There's no
substitute for real-world experiences."

FCI started the internship program last year with four students
from San Marcos High School. This year, they included Vista High
School.

Part of the reason they picked Vista High is because it offers
drafting and engineering classes that many schools don't, said Dana
Smola, human resources manager for the company.

Company officials hope to continue expanding the program to
include students from all over the area, Smola said.

The arrangement benefits the students because they get valuable
work experience, and the company because it could help inspire
future engineers, she said.

"There's going to be a shortage of potential employees, and so
we thought, 'What a good opportunity to expose high school students
to what we do here,' " she said. "As a business, we think helping
our future is going to benefit all of us."

FCI, a subsidiary of Colorado-based Flatiron Construction Co.,
contracts with public agencies on projects ranging from light-rail
work on the Sprinter to bridge and road work on area freeways.

The partnership meshes well with the statewide push to bolster
career-centered education in high schools, Hamblin said.

"It fits really well, because what it demonstrates for students
is that you need math and science to do these things," he said.